Dusty Memories, Laced with Hope
by SkoomaForSale
Summary: Set three months after The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.


Dusty Memories, Laced With Hope

Three months after _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_

The calm, clear summer waters of the Mississippi River were disturbed by a large raft. The water radiated in ripples from the wide raft. Two boys were pushing long poles through the deep waters down to the muddy bank, propelling the craft down the river. As the boys maneuvered a bend in the river, the large black man sitting on the narrow edge of the raft gave a loud shout.

"There it is! There be mah home!" A wide smile broke out across his face as he furiously pointed ahead of the craft. The raft completed its turn, revealing to the boys the object which their friend was so energetically gesturing towards.

A small wooden shack was standing at the edge of a copse of trees. A beam of sunlight focused on the place where a door should have been; the focused light illuminated the inside of the building. Without waiting for his friends and fellow passengers, the black man leaped from the raft, swiftly swimming to shore.

"Jim! What're you doin'?" the two boys called in unison, laughter clear in their voices.

"It's all righ' Mistah Tom and Mistah Huck! I know dese lands like da back o' mah hand!" Jim called back to the two boys on the raft. Tom and Huck smiled at each other and let their friend enter his old home alone.

The smile painted on Jim's face melted off the moment he stepped inside his home. The smile had been a facade for his friends, a trick to prevent worrying. Jim hadn't returned so he could relive his happy memories. He had returned to pay his respects to the family he deemed as lost.

He slowly maneuvered his way though the run down house, sidestepping pieces of ceiling that had fallen in. His mind flashed back to his days before being constricted by the chains of slavery. He and his wife had picked this spot to start their new life. This is where they started their new life. Jim rubbed his calloused hands against the course grain of the walls, recalling the long hours spent constructing this home for his family.

His mind returned to the happy years after his daughter's birth. He bent and picked up a small figurine from the dusty floor, a genuine smile spreading across his face. Jim gently held a lion figurine, hand carved for his daughter. It amazed Jim to this day that a small child could be so entertained by a useless piece of pine. The small plaything was now cold and hard in his hands.

A sob bubbled up from deep inside Jim. Feelings of guilt and grief overwhelmed his as he remembered the last day he had seen his wife and child; the last day they all had been free Americans.

The lion figurine slipped from his limp fingers as he immersed himself in the painful memories. His arms lightly twitched as he relived the grueling punishment he inflicted upon his helpless daughter. With a cry, he watched as his mind continued to play out that night. He was helpless as he watched a group of slavers burst into his home, come to claim his family. Jim's memory faded. He no longer saw the large white men hauling his family away. He only saw the forlorn room where it had happened so long ago.

Silent tears streamed down his face. Jim was startled from his thoughts by a small hand appearing on his arm.

"What happened to them?" Huck stepped in front of Jim, drawing the man's attention away from his dusty surroundings. Jim took a calming breath, then spoke.

"Slavers, Mastah Huck. 'Dem slavers toor us apart. Took me ovah to Missus Watson's. Mah family got taked up tha river someways. They still up der at dat plantation."

"So why did ya' come back here Jim? You knew they wouldn't be here." Huck looked confused.

"Because Huck. All mah memories are here. All mah dusty memories." His voice drifted off and a silenced covered the building. Jim began absently brushing dust off of the fireplace mantle, lost in his own thoughts again.

Suddenly, a voice came from the open doorway. "Dusty memories, laced with hope." Jim and Huck turned towards Tom Sawyer, who was standing in the empty door frame.

"What are you talking about?" Huck's expression made it clear that he believed Tom to be crazy.

"I said dusty memories, laced with hope. I read it in a book somewhere. But that doesn't matter. What I mean is that even though this place is all dusty and decaying, there is still hope."

"Hope? Wha-? What are yeh talkin' about Tom?" Tom strode to the tall oak table in the center of the room.

"Look here Jim. You too Huck." Tom unrolled a map of the Mississippi and placed it on the smooth wood of the table. Tom had spent the last three months retracing Huck and Jim's adventure. Tom had drawn small, detailed pictures at every major landmark along the way. His small finger was now resting on a half-finished drawing of a cabin.

"Okay. This is Jim's cabin. And this," Tom moved his finger up the river to a hand drawn plantation, "is where Jim's family is. Let's go get his family back!" A stunned silence filled the room. Tom looked eagerly at his friends, seeking approval. All he saw was disbelief.

"I dun know where ya get all these crazy ideas Mistah Tom." Jim turned to leave.

"Jim wait!" Tom called. "Just.. Just give me a chance." Jim stropped and sighed.

"Alrigh' Tom. I'll listen to yah." Tom beamed at Jim, excited to reveal his plan.

"Okay. What we're goin' to do is raft up the river and ask the plantation owner to set Jim's family free."

"That's it Tom? That's all you've come up with? No flashy scheme?" Huck couldn't believe his ears.

"Well, why wouldn't it work Huck? Jim is a free man ain't he? Who's to say there ain't people like Miss Watson with ideas about freeing blacks?"

"Missus Watson only freed me when she passed on. You know tha' Tom." Jim argued.

"Yeah, but when you ran away, all she could talk about was settin' you free. She was gonna' do it real soon had that fella' not offered so much money for ya." Huck and Jim looked at each other, both shocked to her this news.

"Well... I guess it's worth a try. What do ya say Jim?" Huck had a glint in her eye. It was a glint Jim knew all too well.

"Looks like we'll be out adventurin' again Mistuh Huck." With a shout of Joy, Tom and Huck jumped up. Huck left to prepare the raft, Tom following shortly after. Jim stayed behind for a moment, slowly moving around the room one more time.

"I'm comin' for ya Darlin'. I'll get ya back. I promise." Without a glance behind him, Jim left the cabin. He left behind the decay and left for a new life. He left behind the dust and headed for hope.


End file.
